Dawn Dragon

I should say before you continue reading that I cringe when reading this now! It is horribly derivative and cliched. In fact I use it in some of my writing workshops as an example of how NOT to start a fantasy story for the YA market! The only thing that survived into the book from this draft was the name, Elian! However, as it appears to have been the most viewed and reviewed item in my portfolio, I'll leave it here for now. If you want to read better written pieces about dragons, though, please look at some of the excerpts from my Dragon Orb books.



Elian's heart raced as he neared the crest of the ridge. He was sure that the sounds he had heard would prove his suspicions correct. Dropping to his hands and knees, he crawled the last few feet. There had been fresh dragonspoor in the Haleen valley yesterday and Elian believed that one of the magnificent creatures had been hunting there. If so, this could prove a unique opportunity to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition and see one clearly.

Dragons rarely ventured this far from the mountain ranges of the north, and though some of the other boys from the village had claimed to have seen them in the past, Elian suspected that these had merely been tales told to enhance their status. Could this be his chance to fulfil his most burning desire? Dragons had been almost an obsession to him since he was young enough to enjoy the stories of their brave, and noble breed. Even the night dragons were a source of fascination. He desperately hoped that this would not be one of those dread black dragons come south to feed, though, for it was one of the famous day dragons that he really wanted to see.

Elian crept forward slowly and his breath caught in his throat as the floor of the valley gradually eased into view. With eyes wide in disbelief, he gazed in wonder at the awesome sight below him. There, standing in full view, was indeed a dragon – but what a dragon! This was no dark dragon of the night, black as coal and filled with dread anger. Neither was it a day dragon, blue as cornflower and more noble than the greatest of knights. Nor even was it a dusk dragon, rare as sapphires, dusky blue-grey with proud eyes of silver. No. To Elian’s pure astonishment and delight his gaze alighted on the most rare of all of the dragon family. There, in resplendent orange-gold glory, stood a dawn dragon, its wings partially furled and its head held high, carefully surveying the valley with its beautiful shining eyes.

Elian’s chest began to hurt. He realised that he had been holding his breath, lost in wonder. Slowly, he forced the air from his straining lungs, desperate not to make the slightest of sounds in case the dragon became aware of him. This was a day he would never forget, he thought excitedly.

The dawn dragon’s head suddenly became still, its eyes fixed on a point further down the valley. Had it spotted prey? Elian risked raising his head slightly to see if he could pick out what the dragon was looking at, but whatever it had seen was shielded from his sight by a stand of trees some way along the base of the valley.

Slowly, like a cat preparing to pounce, the dragon bunched its muscles, its wings raised, still only partially extended. Then with a great roar that momentarily froze Elian’s heart in his chest, the beautiful creature exploded into the air, its wings snapping forward and out to their full span.

Elian could not help but gasp. The dragon’s wings from tip to tip must be a full fifty paces he marvelled as the enormous creature’s first great downstroke powered it forward and upwards with a terrific whoosh of displaced air. One further great stroke and the dragon entered a glide that carried it forward at a surprising speed. Just when Elian thought it would surely crash into the ground, the dragon suddenly adjusted the angle of its wings to generate more lift. At the same time it raised its great taloned feet into a forward attack, disappearing behind the stand of trees as it struck its target.

There was another reverberating roar, this time sounding with a more triumphant note, followed by silence as the dragon began to feed.

Elian inhaled deeply, drinking in the silence. It was as if the valley itself had been awed to stillness by her beauty.

Elian did not know how he knew the dragon was a female. It was there in the way she moved, the way she held her wings, the way she arched her long neck - an elegance and grace that defined her femininity in a way that transcended any biological inspection. More than that, however, Elian knew the dragon was female. It was there, clearly in his mind - an inexplicable inbuilt knowledge.

'I wonder if I could get a closer look,' he thought. Then he laughed quietly, shaking his head at his foolishness. 'Am I going mad? The dragon's feeding. Don't be stupid, Elian. Why would you want to deliberately get close to a hungry dragon?'

For a moment, Elian almost talked himself out of going, but he could not help it. The presence of the dragon was like a magnet. Elian felt foolhardy, but he also felt drawn irresistably towards the magnificent creature. It was not mere curiosity. Something tugged at his mind.

Elian cautiously climbed to his feet, despite his misgivings, and began to walk down into the valley.

Once he had taken the first two or three reluctant steps forward, Elian began to lose control of his feet. A compulsion to run started the acceleration, the downhill slope adding momentum until his body threatened to overtake his legs. Before he knew it, he was hurtling down into the Haleen valley with all thoughts of stealthy movement gone.

In his mind, he justified the speed of his descent. ‘If I can reach the near side of the woods before the dragon finishes feeding, I can creep through the trees to a concealed vantage point,’ he thought. ‘From there, I will be able to view her in relative safety.’

He repeated the plan over and over in his head as he ran, determined to make it work. When he reached the edge of the wood, however, things did not quite work out the way he envisioned.

Chest heaving from the running and desperately trying to keep his panting as quiet as he could, Elian entered the trees. There were some bushes and ferns growing between the tree trunks, but for the large part the woods offered sparse cover. The stand of trees was only a few hundred yards wide at most, so he had hardly entered the upper edge of the wood before he could see the orange/gold colour of the dragon ahead. The glowing colour mesmerised him with tantalising thoughts. There was no turning back now. Elian felt an overwhelming desire to see more. Flitting from tree trunk to tree trunk, he pressed forward.

It was strange, for he did not feel afraid. He knew he should be terrified, yet all he felt was curiosity and a weird premonition that this encounter would end well. Where his certainty came from, he did not know. Somehow, he knew that it was not his fate to die today. There was something more.

A particularly large tree trunk stood like a timeless pillar a few yards ahead. Elian darted forward to take advantage of the cover it offered and peeped around the edge. The dragon was curled in a semi-circle, chewing gently with her face towards the forest. He ducked quickly back behind the tree, as he suddenly realised that she was looking straight at him, her great eyes sparkling.

The sound of laughter filled his mind - gentle, friendly, female laughter. Elian shook his head slightly and looked around amongst the trees in surprise. The laughter intensified before slowly dying away.

‘Come to me, Elian. I’ve been waiting for you.’

‘Is my mind playing tricks on me, or did the dragon really just speak to me?’ Elian wondered. His breath caught in his throat. ‘Can a dragon do that?’

‘Yes, I can,’ the voice said gently within his mind. ‘Now come. I have waited a long time for this moment.’

Elian released his breath slowly and took another. Emotion roiled through him, twisting and tightening his gut like wool being wound into a ball. With painstaking care to avoid any sudden movement, he peeped around the tree. The dragon was still staring straight at him.

‘That’s it, Elian. Come out. I promise I won’t bite,’ the dragon let out a little snort through her nostrils and Elian could feel her amusement at that pledge. The strange thing was that her voice speaking in his mind did not feel alien. It was familiar somehow, yet that made no sense. Aside from once seeing a day dragon flying far off in the distance, he had never encountered any of their kind before. How could he possibly feel such trust for this great creature? Or was this a part of their power?

He knew it was possible that he was being deceived, but his instincts told him he could trust her. Rather than give his mind a chance to overcome his intuition, Elian decided to act. With a bravery he did not feel, he stepped smartly out from behind the tree and met the dragon’s gaze full on. He paused for just a moment and then walked forward towards the edge of the woods.

Great eyes of amber watched him. The dragon was even more beautiful close up. Her body was sleek and streamlined, her rows of scales even and shining with a golden orange lustre. Her triangular wedge-shaped head had subtle curves displaying something of her femininity that all her horns and back ridges could not dispel. She was everything that Elian had imagined a dragon would be, and more.

‘Why thank you, Elian. You are very kind with your thoughts. I have tried to keep myself in shape over the centuries. It’s good to meet you at last.’

‘I can hear you in my head,’ Elian responded aloud as he reached the edge of the trees and stopped. ‘Can you understand me if I speak?’

‘I can,’ the dragon’s voice said inside his head. ‘Your mind echoes with the noises you make with your mouth. It’s unnecessary to speak aloud, but if you’re more comfortable with this, I understand. It takes practise to discipline your thoughts. I can see that you are brimming with questions, but it would be remiss of me if I did not at least introduce myself first. Elian, I am Ryshell, your dragon.’